The following is an email sent to me by engineer Antonio Rodríguez in response to an article I wrote on my personal blog amadeoalcantara.blogspot.com consider this mail is as valuable as technical staff so I decided to hang in this room for all the professionals we are aware about our responsibility on this issue. Then his writing.
Amadeo
Thanks for your article "I was in Puerto Príncipe" very good, I also made several trips to Haiti techniques for engineering work being done on Highway Star and RN5 RN1. In one such visit, we toured the tarmac before he was going to perform in the streets near the palace occupied by the Prime Minister, the said course was held with Mr. Adams and Mr. Jean Haitian nationals who we served as a guide and also works for Star Engineering.
In this journey we call attention to the construction of a building that had been built in the area at that time was the second between the floor and distributed over a large area, at first glance, there was no need to be un gran experto estructuralista con amplio conocimientos en diseño antisísmico, concreto y suelos, solo bastaban los conocimientos elementales de estructura y estar claro que el emplazamiento estaba contenido en una zona de alto riesgo sísmico para darse cuenta que esa edificación, no cumplía en lo más mínimo con ningún código antisísmico, ni viejo y mucho menos actualizados en su última versión.
Tengo claro el recuerdo de aquellas grande losas, los nodos y estribos muy distante entre si, los materiales y el modelo estructural, que en la actualidad no son aceptado por ningún código antisísmico y que según nuestro guía cumplía con los requerimientos establecidos en Haití. At that time I told my colleagues that this building was being constructed for an area where seismic intensity levels are very low or zero and that if we took as a reference to others built in the past, the day it happened a great earthquake magnitude would be devastating and it was. Obviously
earthquake of this magnitude and depth still cause serious damage in buildings designed and built to current seismic code requirements, and you can see what happens when you do not comply with codes and specifications, quality of materials, adequate supervision and add also the average exposure of the works which almost always is not taken into account by some designers even these times, the problems of informal housing, which can not hide that represent a great challenge for all of Latin America, which sometimes takes more strength and are largest risk for lack of passengers, political problems and laziness of some authorities in power.
Experience:
learn and assimilate the experience they bring these events in all aspects, loss of life, disaster management, construction, reconstruction and construction supervision. Constructive Aspect
: Right
site evaluation of the works Depending on the level of demand, type and use:
- Average Exposure: Identify
adversity and technical solutions to prevent future damage, the aggressiveness of the average exposure weaken the structure without the occurrence of a seismic event and / or other cause, the phenomenon when the structure has been weakened by the exposure half will fail by progressive weakening despite having been designed with all code requirements and specifications in its latest version.
Study of Soil:
determine the boundary conditions of the soil foundation and the area, climate, geology, seismicity to define the stratigraphy, water table position, bearing capacity, settlements and deformations caused by volumetric changes of moisture gain or loss, the distribution of pressures acting on the foundation level and below it.
-Design:
Avoid complicated geometry in the formation of the structures and short columns, structural analysis of earthquake resistant codes and specifications attached to its latest version.
-Building: Meet
set at the reference and technical specifications, using quality materials tested according to specifications.
-Supervision:
Adequate supervision to ensure compliance with laid down in the approved plans and the current Building Regulations.
This e-mail is not intended as a technical report and prosecute any role, but a simple statement in response to my friend Amadeo Alcántara on his article on his blog entitled "I was in Port au Prince."
help the Haitian people and assimilate the experience of our people, brother and neighbor. Antonio Rodríguez
In this journey we call attention to the construction of a building that had been built in the area at that time was the second between the floor and distributed over a large area, at first glance, there was no need to be un gran experto estructuralista con amplio conocimientos en diseño antisísmico, concreto y suelos, solo bastaban los conocimientos elementales de estructura y estar claro que el emplazamiento estaba contenido en una zona de alto riesgo sísmico para darse cuenta que esa edificación, no cumplía en lo más mínimo con ningún código antisísmico, ni viejo y mucho menos actualizados en su última versión.
Tengo claro el recuerdo de aquellas grande losas, los nodos y estribos muy distante entre si, los materiales y el modelo estructural, que en la actualidad no son aceptado por ningún código antisísmico y que según nuestro guía cumplía con los requerimientos establecidos en Haití. At that time I told my colleagues that this building was being constructed for an area where seismic intensity levels are very low or zero and that if we took as a reference to others built in the past, the day it happened a great earthquake magnitude would be devastating and it was. Obviously
earthquake of this magnitude and depth still cause serious damage in buildings designed and built to current seismic code requirements, and you can see what happens when you do not comply with codes and specifications, quality of materials, adequate supervision and add also the average exposure of the works which almost always is not taken into account by some designers even these times, the problems of informal housing, which can not hide that represent a great challenge for all of Latin America, which sometimes takes more strength and are largest risk for lack of passengers, political problems and laziness of some authorities in power.
Experience:
learn and assimilate the experience they bring these events in all aspects, loss of life, disaster management, construction, reconstruction and construction supervision. Constructive Aspect
: Right
site evaluation of the works Depending on the level of demand, type and use:
- Average Exposure: Identify
adversity and technical solutions to prevent future damage, the aggressiveness of the average exposure weaken the structure without the occurrence of a seismic event and / or other cause, the phenomenon when the structure has been weakened by the exposure half will fail by progressive weakening despite having been designed with all code requirements and specifications in its latest version.
Study of Soil:
determine the boundary conditions of the soil foundation and the area, climate, geology, seismicity to define the stratigraphy, water table position, bearing capacity, settlements and deformations caused by volumetric changes of moisture gain or loss, the distribution of pressures acting on the foundation level and below it.
-Design:
Avoid complicated geometry in the formation of the structures and short columns, structural analysis of earthquake resistant codes and specifications attached to its latest version.
-Building: Meet
set at the reference and technical specifications, using quality materials tested according to specifications.
-Supervision:
Adequate supervision to ensure compliance with laid down in the approved plans and the current Building Regulations.
This e-mail is not intended as a technical report and prosecute any role, but a simple statement in response to my friend Amadeo Alcántara on his article on his blog entitled "I was in Port au Prince."
help the Haitian people and assimilate the experience of our people, brother and neighbor. Antonio Rodríguez
